Campus walk 

                                                                Our naturist explaining the different aspects of our campus

The campus walk... very interesting to say the least. You know you walk past things everyday and don't even think twice. I think one of the most interesting things that I learned was that the roofs are shaped at an angle because that way they disperse water more evenly on the ground. I actually thought that was quite ingenious because a lot of buildings that you see have water dripping down in one single spot causing it to sort of carve out a hole. I also thought it was really interesting that because FGCU bought land from Miromar, they had to pretty much follow what they id in terms of building regulations. I also thought it was pretty ironic how college is supposed teach us to be model citizens yet FGCU didn't listen to Miromar and had to pay a fine for not following regulations.

 In all honesty I didn't really know much about our campus until the campus walk. I was actually very happy to finally find our why the library is always so cold. The walk really didn't help me develop my sense of place because my sense of place is at the Naples pier. I do however have a favorite place on campus, which is the FGCU lawn. I especially like to sit out there when our days finally start to cool down and there's a nice breeze. It s a nice place to sit and forget the craziness of school. Sort of like my place at the beach, where I can just sit there and forget about the worries of the world.

                                                                       FGCU Lawn

Ecological Footprint...

"For every action there is a consequence"...With that being said, have you ever stopped to think about how your lifestyle impacts the environment? I'm sure that not many of us have. After calculating my ecological footprint (http://www.earthday.org/footprint-calculator), I realize just how much my everyday actions and lifestyle affects our environment. According to the calculator, if everyone lived like I do, it would take 5 planet Earth's to have enough resources.

I think that two of the biggest areas that I could work on improving would be my meat/animal consumption and also the services area. I wouldn't say that I am a huge carnivore but yes given a choice between a steak and a salad, I would probably chose the steak. I will say though, that I have seriously considered becoming a vegetarian or at the very least a pescatarian. Just like eating meat has its consequences that affect the environment so does eating fish, especially if you are eating farmed fish. Waste from a fish farm, if not properly taken care of, can run off in our ground water and eventually run off into our oceans thus adding to the pollution. On the flip side, eating wild caught fish although it is much healthier for consumption than famed fish, can also lead to over-fishing and the depletion of fishes in our oceans. This leads to a chain reaction because if there are less fish in the ocean, animals who are dependent on those fish for sustainability end up perishing, creating an unbalance in the food chain. If we as a general population consumed meat in moderation we could lessen the side affects of dairy and meat farms.

As for services, the quiz didn't really explain what "services" meant and to me it seems like it could mean how much electricity I use. I actually try to be very conscious about how much electricity I use. Whenever I leave a room or are not using my computer, I always try to shut off the lights and shut down my computer. I would say that my biggest issue is leaving the water running. In the mornings especially when I am brushing my teeth, I'll leave the water running while I'm brushing and I have to consciously tell myself to turn off the faucet.

All in all, I do try to do my part in helping our environment and not be part of the problem. At one of my jobs we go through so much paper, it's an office, and I started a recycling initiative. I have a bin in which I place paper, plastic and pretty much anything else that can be recycled. Then at the end of the week we have a recycling dumpster that I just empty it out in. If we as a society don't accept and realize that our actions no matter how big or small affect our environment, then we are just going to lead ourselves into extinction. 

Introductions, Preconceptions, and My Sense of Place....

Introduction:

Hello and welcome to my blog for Colloquium. To being I'd like to introduce myself: My name is Carolina O. This my senior year at FGCU, go class of 2016!! I am an Elementary Education major and in the future I hope to teach second grade and eventually teach at the college level. I recently moved to Naples from Fort Lauderdale about two years ago. When I moved here I enrolled at Edison Ste College (before the name change) and was the last class to graduate under the Edison name :). Afterwards I enrolled at Florida Gulf Coast University and absolutely love it. This semester I am in my level one internship and I am just as excited as I am overwhelmed to say the least; I just hope everything goes smoothly.

Terrible picture but here is the last graduating class of Edison State College (photo: Carolina Ortiz)

Preconceptions:

My preconceptions about Colloquium....oh man where to start.

Of course I have heard both good and bad things about the this class. The general consensus is that we shouldn't be forced to take a class that has nothing to do with our major, which I agree with to an extent. I think that many times we take classes that do pertain in someway to our major and they end up being a waste of time. That being said why not take a class in which awareness is brought and we learn just how we impact our environment. I personally love nature. Whenever I can I like to go to the beach and just sit, I'll talk more about that later. Could you imagine if one day we had not more beaches to enjoy because of what harm we are causing the environment? To some degree it is somewhat "annoying" that if you don't take Colloquium you don't graduate; it sort of cancels out all the effort you poured into your other classes. All in all, I am looking forward to this class and to learn how to lessen my own environmental footprint.

My Sense of Place:

As I mentioned earlier, I thoroughly enjoy going to the beach whenever I'm not at either of my two jobs, school, or internship. Like the video we watched in class, I think whether we realize it or not we all have a spot/place we like to go to and just feel safe or comfortable. For me whenever I go to the beach, I feel like I can just unwind and let go of everything even if it is only for a couple of minutes. For the most part I like to go around dusk when there is less people and the sun is setting. There is just something about laying on a blanket in the darkness while listening to the waves crash on shore that is so soothing.

 This picture was taken by me close to the pier. (photo: Carolina Ortiz)

 This one was also taken near the pier (which if you haven't noticed, it's my favorite spot). (photo: Carolina Ortiz)